During the Long Night of Research at the Unipark Salzburg, we had the opportunity to show a broad audience how research can make a very concrete contribution to creating liveable cities. Our station was visited by many families and offered plenty of space for discussion – with both young and old.
Motivated by the EU project i‑MOBYL, we explored the question of where children and young people feel particularly comfortable or uncomfortable in the city. Over the course of the evening, countless children responded to the invitation to place corresponding stickers on a map. In doing so, they provided very concrete input for our fundamental research. The data collected in Salzburg will be compared with similar datasets from Guildford, Paris, Eindhoven and Basel. This allows us not only to gain fascinating insights into the activity spaces of young people and make them visible, but also to identify barriers to independent, active mobility.
The station was a perfect example of how geoinformatics functions as an integrative discipline: spatial references and maps connect different disciplinary perspectives and serve as a “display” for transdisciplinary research. The Long Night of Research was a fantastic opportunity to make geoinformatics visible, understandable and tangible … while discussing mobility, urban planning, transport systems and well‑being.
Particularly valuable was the excellent collaboration with the City of Salzburg, Point&, and UWM.mobilität. Public administration, research and the private sector worked together as a strong team – exactly the mix needed to drive the necessary transformation of cities and transport systems.
The consistently high level of interest throughout the evening was a strong sign of the societal relevance of scientific work. Conversely, we experienced it as highly enriching not only to communicate science, but also to develop research practice itself in dialogue with those affected. And where better to start, when it comes to the mobility of tomorrow, than with children and young people?